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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

I'm Reading Away

by Tanya Eby

I’m two weeks into my “Slow Down and Read” summer campaign. It’s a campaign with a follower of one: namely, me. I’m okay with this. I just needed to create a name for it so I wouldn’t feel like a slacker.

I’m not sure why reading feels like I’m slacking. Maybe because when you’re a working mom, any time you take time for yourself feels like slacking. Then again, reading is the perfect treat for a mom. You get a little time to escape to a new world and with all the books out there, that could be a new world of love and lust or darkness and espionage. Maybe even all of that at once.

I have a combination of things on my list from literary novels to classics to modern mysteries. And I’m also reading some romances from my very own writing group….GRRWG.

I’ve read books by Joselyn Vaughn, Brynn Paulin, and Bronwyn Green. Next up: Temple Hogan and Abigail Barnette. I’ve also purchased several others from our group and will, at some point, have a book by everyone (from our group) in my queue.

Not only has it been fun reading, but it’s given me a glimpse of these writer’s voices, and maybe a smidge of who they are as people. Reading someone’s work gives you a hint of the spirit in them. And by spirit, I mean personality. It’s fun to see playfulness, sauciness, and downright sexiness in these ladies.

I’m enjoying slowing down and reading, obsessing less, and generally just trying to relax a bit more about my own work. I had a major existential writer crisis, which has culminated in me changing the genre I’m writing in. So while I cocoon a bit more and get ready for that transformation, I’m going to keep on reading. I’ll be on a pirate’s ship next. My kids will see me smiling. It will be my own little secret as to why.